That's All Blarney: Irish Coffee Truffles

About two months ago I woke with a start from a terrifying dream: I was giving a customer loyalty workshop. A perfectly mundane, fully clothed, everyday, customer loyalty workshop. Exactly the kind of workshop that I conduct on a monthly basis at work. *shudder*

Ladies and gentlemen, when you start dreaming about work, it's past time for a genuine, honest-to-God vacation.  

Fortunately there was light at the end of the tunnel - it took us almost two years to go to the UK to visit our friend Glory, but we finally got around to it, and no one will ever be able to accuse us of lacking ambition. Four countries and eight cities in 13 days? Madness! Nevertheless, that is exactly what Taryn, Heather, Glory, and I set out to do a few weeks ago - and I'll be bamboozled if we didn't accomplish just exactly that. 

Ireland, England, France, and Scotland. I return to you weary and footsore, with a backpack full of dirty laundry and an uncontrollable craving for Mexican food, but my heart is full to bursting. I have seen so many beautiful things and places.

This is part 1 of 4 chronicling my two-week adventure in Europe. For more pictures and stories, take a peek at my Facebook photo album HERE.  


          So, I begin with Ireland. 

I wanted so desperately to love Ireland that I was almost afraid to go there and see it for myself, for fear of being dramatically disillusioned. Silly me. 

 

 
There is a spaciousness about Ireland. The people seem to live here alongside and in spite of the landscape; Ireland has not been tamed. It is still alive and well, and coexists with its inhabitants, rather than being contained or reshaped by them. Driving down the narrow, gorgeous, winding, terrifying roads, after choking down the fear of imminent death by tour bus, the next impression is that of expansive, rustic beauty. The entire landscape has an effulgent, brilliantly green case of perpetual bed head. 

 
This place has an almost umbilical tie to things that are old and beautiful, and everything they do is teeming with life. The Gaelic language is everywhere, and castles and ruins are preserved, but not obsessively restored. The past speaks for itself here. Goats openly roam the historic cliffs, and cattle graze just across the stream from castles and gardens teeming with tourists. Ancient things are not relegated to irrelevance and incongruity, to be gawked at behind glass; they are as indispensable a part of life as the nearly universal WiFi. 50-cent penny whistles with plastic mouthpieces co-exist seamlessly with 300 year-old pipes which have been passed down through generations.

In everything from the ballads, street art, and reels, to the effusive gardens spilling over the little winding rock walls, there is an uncontrollable impulse to express. One can well believe that "Irish writers are either completely incomprehensible, or they win Nobel prizes. Or, in the case of Samuel Beckett, both." (A gem dropped by they host of our musical pub crawl in Dublin.) I could almost believe that these people dream in poetry.

We spent a day and a half in Dublin, drove to the Cliffs of Moher, spent the evening in Cork, then continued on to Blarney before departing Ireland for England, but those few short days have adopted a much larger profile in my memory than their brief tenure would suggest. Like fajita steam, Ireland clings to my clothes and hair, prolonging the enjoyment long after the dishes have been cleared.

There is something about this country which resonates with me in a way I don't entirely understand, but one thing is clear; somewhere in the spaces between listening to the uileann pipes and Gaelic ballads in a cozy Dublin pub, sitting on the Cliffs, and climbing the winding stairs to the ramparts of Blarney Castle, Ireland has eased its way into my heart and settled in to stay. 

 Item: Irish Coffee Truffles

Made By: Blarney Chocolate Factory
Made In: Blarney, Ireland
Purchased At: Blarney Chocolate Factory - Blarney, Ireland
Purchase Price: €1.95

Review: In the interest of full disclosure, I'm not generally a white chocolate fan, but this beautiful creation was too perfect to pass up. This is a particularly busy truffle - White and dark hard chocolate shell, a smooth, whiskey-spiked ganache center, and topped with a delicate poof of cinnamon-sprinkled cream. Frankly, I found the white chocolate briefly overwhelming, but after that it's all uphill - smooth, downright creamy center with a beautiful, boozy finish. The coffee flavor kind of disappears, but it's still an enjoyable, charming tribute to a classic, heart-warming Irish drink. 

Recommend

With love, 
 - Kat

To All Maine Points: Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sourdough Truffles

Hello, and welcome!

You’ve found your way into our repository of all things chocolate.

Who are we? We are Will and Kat – a brother and sister duo reporting in from opposite sides of the continent (New York and Texas, respectively). We share many interests: classic science fiction novels, sleeping in, traveling, breakfast tacos, talking philosophy until 3 in the morning, our other two siblings… and finding that perfect bar of blissfully dark chocolate.

We eat a lot of chocolate. We try bars, truffles, and other confections. We’ll pick them up from grocery stores, friends, bookstores, airport gift shops, high-end chocolate stores, and gas stations. Every once in a while we’ll stumble across a delightful chocolate oasis that merits a little more personal attention (Fruition Chocolate comes to mind. Or Lucky Chocolate - bring back the goat cheese truffle!!!). And, since we do all this stuff anyway, it just makes sense to keep all our findings in one place, and that place is here.

I (Kat) am going to kick things off by singing the blues a little. One thing I've never had to do before this year, that sucks beyond belief, is spend an entire summer away from all of my siblings. 

It is a lonely, off-center feeling when you realize that your family is so far away. There are lots of little peripheral realizations that accompany the feeling: that you can't just hop in the car and drive down for the weekend. That you are no longer anyone's primary emergency contact. That if the zombie apocalypse went down tomorrow you would probably never see them again.That they can't commiserate about the awful Texas weather and the Blue Bell famine. That they've probably forgotten what decent enchiladas even taste like (poor souls). All those little things just hint at the core of the issue, though, which is simply that they are a long way away from me.

I want them to be here. I want us to all live in the same city again. I want us all to talk on a weekly or even daily basis. I want to lie on the floor and watch Star Trek and throw popcorn at each other and talk about stupid things and important things and funny things and nerdy things and delicious things until all hours. I miss them all terribly with something remarkably akin to homesickness. 

So, frustrated, heartsick, and off-balance, I hopped on an airplane two weeks ago and flew the East Coast to get my sibling fix. 

What wonders a long weekend can work on a weary soul. It was three days worthy of our goofy collective; with a late-night diner visit, great music, traipsing through the woods, campfires, goats, good food, the most delightful group of people known to human kind, and chocolate. Lots of chocolate. 

 

 

After a not-long-enough day and a half in Maine visiting with Mignon and Forrest, Will and I had to head back to New York so he could play a gig Saturday evening, but on the way back we made the obligatory stop at the Fruition chocolate outpost in the bustling little town of Woodstock, NY. We chatted with the resident chocolatier, munched on some roasted cacao beans, and perused the selection. Although I spent about $100 on great chocolate to bring back with me to Texas, I wasted no time in sharing these little gems with Will.

It's quite likely that soon the four of us will be living in four different states, spread from one end of this continent to the other. From here on out, with jobs, friends, obligations, and eventually houses, spouses, children, and other delightful complications, it will only get harder to get us all in the same place, but I find immense comfort in knowing that wherever, and whenever that is, magic will happen, and my spirit and faith in humanity will be renewed.


Item: Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Sourdough Truffles

Made By: Fruition Chocolate
Made In: Shokan, NY
Purchased At: Fruition Chocolate - Woodstock, NY
Purchase Price: (They don't have this on the website - will call for this later).

Review: With sourdough crumbs from the lovely local Bread Alone Bakery & Cafe, this delightful creation is a child of the Hudson Valley. The outside is crackly and intriguing, with the barest hint of tangy, salty sourdough. The inside is all smooth, powerful cocoa flavor, with a clean, slick barely-there olive-oil finish. The interior of the truffle is just a little sweeter than I generally prefer, but is nicely offset by the sourdough crumbs on the outside. Very well crafted, unusual truffle, with major bonus points for creative flavors. Don't come to this one for dessert. 

Highly recommend